


Men Who Refuse To Buy Tampons Or Pads For A Girl They Care About Are Just Insecure In Their Masculinity

by ToFightOrToFlee



Category: Gintama
Genre: Dadtoki, Gen, Literal Sleeping Together, Menstrual Cycle, Periods, basically he takes care of her, discussion of periods, gintoki strikes me as the kind of guy who would buy pads n stuff without shame, i mean he's basically shameless already, normalize ppl having periods 2k20, sorry but i'm a sucker for this kind of stuff, they r soft, yeah that's all lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 12:27:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24849748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToFightOrToFlee/pseuds/ToFightOrToFlee
Summary: Kagura's woken him up in the middle of the night for a lot less than this.
Relationships: n/a
Comments: 12
Kudos: 155





	Men Who Refuse To Buy Tampons Or Pads For A Girl They Care About Are Just Insecure In Their Masculinity

**Author's Note:**

> the summary basically says it all, enjoy.

She kicks him awake just as the sun starts to show its ugly mug over the horizon. The room is filled with a hazy glow, washing out colors and making everything seem like varying shades of blue-gray. He only lets a single short sigh to express how annoyed he is at being woken up so early before he rolls over to face her, raising an eyebrow when he sees the strange way she’s standing. She has her legs pressed together and turned inwards, one hand against her stomach while the other furiously scrubs at the tears coming out of her eyes.

Tears.

He’s standing upright and in front of her in seconds, panic in his eyes and hands hovering around her as he tries to figure out how to help, but she bypasses his poor attempts at comfort entirely and falls against him with a loud wail.

“I’m dying!” she sobs into his yukata. “I’m gonna die and leave you and Sadaharu and Shinpachi all alone and Papi’s gonna be so mad and everyone’s gonna cry all the water out of their bodies and-!”

“Oi, Kagura, calm down,” Gin whisper-yells as he hugs her back, because he can’t find any visible injuries and if she’s okay enough to squeeze him so hard his back cracks then it probably isn’t as bad as she’s making it seem. “What’re you bawling about so early in the morning? You already know what to do when you have a bad dream, geez.” He rubs her back as her violent sobs die down to sniffles, and then she lets go of him altogether, taking a step back and peering up at him with watery eyes.

“But, Gin-chan, there’s blood!” she says, pointing downward. She isn’t lying.

When Gin looks down, he sees blood thoroughly soaking her pajamas.

* * *

By the time he leaves the apartment, Kagura’s futon and bloodied clothes are hanging on the balcony, waiting to be washed. Kagura herself is calmed and in the bath, sedately gnawing on sukonbu with Sadaharu whining beside her, and Gin hopes to get back before she’s finished. He speed-walks to the nearest general store, both grateful and irritated that it’s too early for most people to be awake. He’s still in his sleeping yukata, and he’s wearing Shinpachi’s house slippers because they were easier to put on than boots. He’s never been to the store at this time, so the tired cashier on duty is unfamiliar.

It takes him longer than he’ll admit to find the aisle with the products Kagura needs, and even longer still to figure out which ones to get. The labels are all similar and misleading, and he has no idea if absorbency or twenty-four-hour protection is more important. The cashier sends him strange looks that he pretends to not notice. He doesn’t have time to worry about some stranger thinking he’s a creep when he has a miserable kid relying on him at home.

In the end, he grabs three different boxes of super-absorbent pads for Kagura to try (because he just  _ knows _ tampons won’t work out), four packs of sukonbu, an entire bunch of bananas, and ginger tea. He only knows what to get because Shinpachi thought this might happen and told him what normally works to help settle Otae's cramps and her mood swings. By the time he leaves for home, he thinks the cashier might suspect  _ he’s _ the one on his period. He probably looks it with how wrung-out and harried he feels.

He makes it home faster than he ever has, losing the slippers somewhere between the front door and the bathroom. He drops the bag just outside the door for her as well as one of Shinpachi’s spare yukatas, making enough noise so she knows he’s there, then leaves. He takes the bananas and the tea with him. 

She joins him nearly ten minutes later as he’s getting out the cups, sneaking up behind him and wrapping her arms around his waist. He reaches back to ruffle her wet hair, letting her cling as he pours the tea with one hand. She stays with him as he takes the tea to the table, not letting go even as he sits down, tugging her to sit at his side. She accepts the tea when he gives it to her, making a face at it, but she drinks without complaint and takes the banana he gives her afterward. Sadaharu settles heavily in front of them, propping his head on the couch on Gin’s other side.

“It feels weird,” Kagura finally whispers once she’s three bananas through the bunch, tossing the peels onto the table for Shinpachi to clean up later. She keeps moving, each shift accompanied with a quiet crinkle. “I feel like I’m gonna bleed everywhere and everyone’s gonna see and laugh at me. I don’t wanna sleep ‘cause what if I wake up and I’m all bloody again? My tummy hurts. I’m hungry. I wanna beat someone up.” She sniffles, and he hugs her closer, gently rubbing her upper arm.

“Don’t worry, it only lasts for a few days.” He gives her his half-finished tea. At her hopeful look, he sighs. “For humans, it’s a few days every month. I don’t know about Yato,” he corrects, and she looks devastated. He tries not to show how much it breaks his heart to see her face like that and holds her tighter.

“How do you do it, Gin-chan?” she asks, her voice small. 

“Do what?”

“How do you hide all the blood and stuff every month?” When he just looks at her, she points down. “When it happens to you.” Oh.

“I don’t,” he says simply. “It doesn’t happen to me or Shinpachi because we don’t have the same body you do. I think you should ask Tsukki or Otae about that.” Kagura frowns, but nods and presses her face against his chest.

“I hate it,” she says.

“I know.”

“It makes me wanna die,” she says.

“I know.”

“Can we go see boss lady tomorrow?” she asks.

“If you finish your tea and go back to bed.” He watches her down the rest of the tea in one go, then stand up, hesitating beside him.

“Can… can I stay with you?” She fiddles with the cup.

“Sure, but I have to wash your stuff before the stains set in. Go on without me.” He gets up as well, patting her head as he walks past to the balcony. He takes the futon and her pajamas inside, throwing them into the tub. He spends half an hour scrubbing and manages to save the futon from staining too badly, but the pajamas are a lost cause. He tosses them in the trash and writes a reminder to buy new ones later, then hangs the futon outside again to dry. The sun is completely up, hanging just over the top of the buildings in the distance. He flicks his middle finger up at it before he heads back to his room. 

Kagura and Sadaharu lift their heads as he walks in, and he goes to get the extra futon, laying it right next to Kagura's temporary one. He lies down with his back towards her, closing his eyes with a sigh. He pulls his blanket over his head, determined to at least get an hour or so of sleep in.

Ten minutes later, he feels arms wrap around his waist from behind while a large shape thuds in front of him and blocks the sunlight from reaching him.

“Thank you, Gin-chan,” Kagura whispers.

“Go to sleep, brat.” 

**Author's Note:**

> this is probably the third or fourth version of this i've written? i wanted to do a version where yatos have VERY violent/bloody menstrual cycles, but i realized i couldn't really make anything soft with a hospital trip involved.


End file.
